Weapons and a Gentle Heart
by lost-in-dreams-forever
Summary: A Neji Tenten OneShot. What if you told the person you loved that you loved them? What happens when a certain someone finds out and plans on stopping your love at all costs? Can Tenten survive the Hyuuga's harsh acceptance rules or will she lose her love?


I came to a little block on my story 'Deeds of Shinobi' so I decided to make something in the time I had to get rid of the block. I already did Shikamaru and Temari so I decided to move onto one of the other couples I wouldn't mind seeing. Hope you enjoy it.

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Weapons and a Gentle Heart

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Neji Hyuuga was always considered the 'Hyuuga Prodigy' in the eyes of both the main Hyuuga branch and the cadet branch. His father was killed in an attempt to save his uncle Hiashi, who happened to be the leader of the Hyuuga clan. Neji hated the main branch for letting him die until his uncle had given him the scroll his father wrote to him before his death. Neji had softened since that time and loved how he could now speak openly with his cousin Hinata Hyuuga who most of all needed it.

Neji was a part of team Gai, his team composed of a crazy teacher who thought everything had to do with the power of youth, a Taijutsu expert who followed in his teacher's footsteps, and a weapons specialist who made him feel very uneasy. Neji didn't understand why she made him feel uneasy until a year ago when they were sent on a mission with Naruto to the sand to help retrieve Gaara, the Kazekage, who had been captured. Neji sighed as he kept punching the tree in front of him trying to get his frustration out. They had just come back from that mission a month ago and he was already bored of the missions they had now. He had changed his look since Naruto left, he wore the usual outfit for the Hyuuga but he always kept his hands and arms wrapped to hide anything he hated.

"This is inconvenient…" He groaned as he kept punching away at the tree that now had deep dents in it. He had ignored the request of training with Lee today, he used the same excuse he used every time, 'I have things to do at the Main House'. Neji sighed as he thought about how Tenten had tried to convince him otherwise. That girl drove him nuts sometimes but he could never snap at her or ignore her like Lee. He was lucky that Hinata had bailed him out of the situation to ask him about the 8 Trigrams, boy was he lucky. "It's not as if I feel anything for her." He whispers to himself as he continued to nail the tree.

"Or maybe you just like to hide it Neji-nii-san." Someone said behind him. Neji kept hitting the tree but spoke after analyzing the situation.

"Hinata-sama you shouldn't be out here." He says to the shy kuniochi behind him, Hinata was always a soft hearted person and he remembered the time he fought her clearly. He wished he could take it back but she didn't mind.

"Training got out early today; Kurenai-sensei dismissed us so I thought I could come train-" She starts but he cuts her off abruptly.

"You know that Hiashi-sama will be angry that you did not return home directly then come to train with me."

"You won't tell will you?" She asks quietly, he could sense her fear since her father was not a very nice man to his daughters.

"Hinata-sama, you know I must tell Hiashi-sama if he asks, the side branch cannot lie to the main branch." Neji says as he finally stops punching the tree and turns to face her. "But I must not lie to you either Hinata-sama… I will keep this secret but you must be confident enough to tell him that you were with your team the whole time and only walked with me home." He says Hinata smiles at his answer and hugs him causing the older Hyuuga to push her away.

"Thank you Neji-nii-san!" She cheers as he sighs.

"Alright let's get started." He goes to one of the posts and begins to show her some techniques.

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Tenten hated how Neji slipped out of training today; she had wanted to tell him something important that she had never told anyone. She always had something for Neji, she didn't know how to explain in detail but one word explained it all. LOVE. She loved him but she knew nothing of his feelings so she didn't want to say, she knew if she said anything wrong then she could wind up losing the friend status she tried so hard to get. She sighed as she watched Lee and Gai do their usual greeting routine that took usually about 10 minutes. She understood that Hinata needed to speak with Neji and that he had been looking out for his cousin a lot lately but this was IMPORTANT. The day passed by slowly as it had been for the past 3 weeks, she had nothing to do but her usual things such as shining her weapons and such.

"Tenten!" Lee called to her as he ran towards her, she sighed as she knew what was about to happen, she quickly dodged the hug sent at her making the bushy browed boy fall to the ground as he leaned forward. She wanted to laugh so hard every time he did this but she held it in. Gai helped him up like usual and looked to Tenten.

"Where is your flame of youth?" Gai asked Tenten who wanted to ignore him but couldn't.

"I don't have it today I left it at home." She said simply as she pulled out some kunai and went to the aiming field. Lee and Gai watched as she walked away, Lee had no idea why she was acting this way, she didn't usually.

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Neji and Hinata continued training into the night as they walked home about 10pm, they had missed dinner and Hiashi would most likely be upset but they didn't care, they were stronger now from the training exercises that Neji had taught Hinata. As they walked home they heard the clinging of metal in practice field 11 and Neji stopped. He looked to Hinata and told her to go on as he walked to training field 11 to see what and who was there. He walked to the field and found Tenten there throwing kunai at the dart boards she set up. He watched quietly as she kept throwing until she finally ran out of weapons. She sighed and sat on the ground wondering why she was there.

"You know, you shouldn't work yourself to exhaustion it's bad for your health." Neji whispered and Tenten quickly looked up to see who was speaking and when she spotted Neji she looked away.

"I had to work on my aim." She whispers in response trying to defend the real purpose.

"Yeah right, you have the best aim in the village. I know that you didn't need to work on it, this was just a stress reliever again." He says, she says nothing in response and just stares at the ground. "You don't have to be so quiet, I'm willing to listen."

"I know you are but I don't need anyone to listen to me." She says and gets to her feet. She takes a step forward unaware of how sore her legs were from her harsh training. Before she could realize that her legs gave out she was falling, and not towards the ground either. Neji caught her and helped her regain her balance, she held tight to his shirt and slowly looked up at him to find his pale eyes looking into hers. She blushed slightly in the dark but quickly pulled away and began picking up her weapons.

"Let me help you."

"No that's not neces-" She starts but stops when she notices him picking up her weapons beside her. She watches a moment but then gets out of her little daze and begins picking her weapons again. "You know Lee and Gai-sensei wondered where you went today."

"I was with Hinata-sama doing the 8 Trigram training." He says simply but she ignores his answer.

"You use that excuse a lot lately, you know that?" She says as she stops and looks at him. "Neji you have to come train with them sometime."

"No I don't, if I don't want to I don't have to. Besides, I have permission to train Hinata-sama instead of training with the team."

"But Neji-" She starts but he cuts her off.

"No buts' Tenten, you know my duty to the main branch as well as to my cousin."

"Neji I wanted to talk to you about something important though." She says and the Hyuuga gives her his full attention.

"What is it you want to talk about?" He watches her as her eyes become darker and he sees the fear of losing something in her eyes also. "Is something wrong? Did something happen Tenten?"

"No. Nothing happened I'm just a little afraid to say this." She whispers.

'Afraid? Why would she be afraid?' He thought to his self as she stood before him. "Don't be afraid Tenten; I'm willing to listen to you."

"Well Neji I… Ummm… Well I want you to know that I really-" She starts while blushing but they're interrupted when Lee pops up out of nowhere and thrusts his foot at Neji. Neji blocks the attack and jumps back.

"There you are my rival! We shall fight this time in the name of youth!" Lee exclaims and Neji sighs at this. He was hoping he wouldn't see Lee today at all but he guessed his luck was no more.

"Sorry Lee, I'm in no condition to fight you right now." Neji said and looked to Tenten who was now looking at the ground. He looks back to Lee who's slightly pouting because his rival rejected his challenge. "Lee maybe I'll fight you tomorrow but can you please go home and get ready or something."

"Since we will battle tomorrow I must prepare! I must run 400 laps around the village!" Lee runs off leaving a trail of dust behind him. Neji sighs and looks to where Tenten was standing to find no one.

"Tenten?" He looks around but he couldn't find her any where.

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She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, but she didn't. Tenten lay on her bed and closed her eyes thinking of what she was about to do only 10 minutes ago. She took her only chance she had and ran away while Neji was talking to Lee. She sighed when she thought about what she was about to say to Neji, 'I love you'. She buried her face in her pillow unaware of who was in the tree outside her room. She jumped when she heard someone knock on her window. She looked at the window to find Neji sitting on the branch in front of it. Her heart jumped when she saw him sitting there with a look of concern on his face. She opened the window and let him come inside but she didn't look at him once.

"Tenten why'd you take off?" Neji asks but she doesn't answer. "Tenten answer me!" He grabs her arm and turns her to face him only to find the tears rolling down her cheeks. He quickly let's go of her arm thinking he hurt her but he watches as she lowers herself to the bed. "Tenten I'm-"

"It's not your fault…" She whispers and looks down to the ground. "It's mine for thinking this would work out, for thinking that I could tell you like that."

"Tell me what?"

"What I've been meaning to tell you for weeks now, what I wanted to say when you came back from retrieving Sasuke like you did… But like usual I couldn't…" She whispers and looks up at him to find confusion on his face that she had never seen before.

"What, wait you haven't told me yet and you waited that long?"

"Yes… I was afraid to say anything because in the end I could lose something precious to me." She whispers and looks up into his eyes and smiles slightly.

"Will you tell me now?" He asks and watches as she slowly nods her head yes.

"I just hope Lee doesn't interrupt again…" She laughs lightly and gets a slight smile out of the Hyuuga before her. She motioned for him to sit next to her on the bed and he followed her direction. "Neji… Before I tell you, you have to promise me that nothing will change for the worse after you know."

"Sure, I promise."

"Neji I really really like you, not as just a friend but more. I've thought about it and all the things that could happen if I was to mess up or you didn't like me that way that you might end the friendship I tried so hard to gain." She whispers. He goes to speak but she lightly places a finger on his lips stopping him. "I thought about it for awhile and I thought of this little crush as love." Neji gently remove her hand and places it in her lap. She closes her eyes thinking that he was rejecting her and prepared herself for the pain.

"You know, I'd never take away your friendship… That's one of things I hold close to my heart." He whispers and before she could react she was pulled against him, he was holding her tight and her head rested on his shoulder. It was true he could feel the fear inside of losing her or even worse being punished for loving if possible but he ignored it as he held Tenten close.

"Neji… What are you…" She whispers but he shushes her.

"I'm doing what I think is right…" He whispers and slowly pulls away. "Tenten, your not going anywhere for awhile you know that?"

"Why?"

"Because you're mine now…" He whispers, her eyes light up as she realizes the meaning of what he said and smiles. She didn't lose his friendship, she gained his love.

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The next day was very awkward between Neji and Tenten, they didn't want Gai to know about what was going on between the two or he'd go into his normal speech about the flames of youth and maybe even the birds and the bees. Neji did as he promised and sparred with Lee in the morning only to win easily since the Taijutsu expert was so exhausted from the 400 laps the night before. Tenten laughed at this knowing that the two would be at it again as soon as Lee felt better and trained some more. Through out the day the hadn't seen Gai anywhere, Lee said he was of on a special mission for Tsunade but Tenten didn't believe it one bit, Neji and them went to search for him but found nothing in the end, their sensei had disappeared so they took it on their selves to continue their daily training like normal. At the end of the day Tenten walked with Neji to her house and he kissed her goodnight before he headed home, if only he knew what was about to happen he would've stayed. He arrived at the Hyuuga Mansion to find all the lights on; he raised an eyebrow as he went inside to find Hiashi sitting near the doorway.

"Hiashi-sama." Neji said as he bowed to his uncle who seemed unaffected by the Jounin before him.

"Neji. Your late, where have you been this late at night? You were to train Hinata hours ago." Hiashi said to him and got to his feet and started towards the garden signaling for Neji to follow him in which the young man did. "Why did you miss her training?"

"I'm sorry Hiashi-sama; we looked for Gai-sensei and found him nowhere so we went on with training without him. I helped Lee some and pointed out his weak spots in his Taijutsu and I helped Tenten increase her defense." Neji stated and Hiashi sat on the cement bench in the garden unaware of the 4 eyes watching him and Neji.

"And you were with your teammate." Hiashi stated simply. Neji stood there a minute wondering what he was talking about but then it hit him, he was talking about Tenten.

"Hiashi-sama I can explain-" Neji starts but Hiashi quickly cuts him off.

"You needn't explain to me Neji, I see everything and I've come to realize your feelings for the weapons expert which are so obvious it hurts." Hiashi says and Neji watches closely as Hiashi looks to him. "You needn't worry about your affair with her."

"It's not an affair Hiashi-sama. I love Tenten very much." Neji says and Hiashi closes his eyes and bows his head.

"Neji I understand and as a result of this you must be disciplined. The Cadet Branch is not to fall in love it is to have arranged marriages and you know that."

"But Hiashi-sama you married the one you love! Why can't I? I mean what does it matter if a lowly Cadet branch member marries someone not out of the elders list?" Neji says and Hiashi looks up at him.

"I will talk to the elders, but you are the Hyuuga Prodigy you are to wed to make this clan stronger and do not believe that woman is strong enough for our family nor its name."

"She can prove herself! She's as strong as any person in this house! Stronger than many in the village!" Neji exclaims he stops when he feels his forehead burning and he drops to his knees holding his head.

"Neji, you are to obey the elders... You will not disobey." Hiashi disappears into the house leaving Neji alone in the garden, the burning had stopped and Neji ripped off his headband to reveal the curse mark that is now a bright red like lava. The 4 eyes shift from their position and before Neji can notice or do anything Hinata is kneeling in front of him and Hanabi beside him.

"Neji-nii-san." Hinata whispers and he looks up at her.

"Hinata-san... You shouldn't be out here, if Hiashi-sama finds you-" Neji starts but Hanabi cuts him off.

"You needn't worry Neji-san; Father won't be coming out for awhile. The elders have called him for a meeting now let Hinata help with the curse mark." Hanabi says as she places a glass of water in front of him.

"Thank you..." He whispers to the both of them to receive a smile.

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The morning after Tenten and Lee met on the training field, Tenten had checked with Tsunade that morning and found out the Gai would be on a 5 day mission and to train without him. Lee was quiet that morning from losing to Neji the day before and he had begun training yet again to try to beat his rival who had still not shown up and it was already 12 noon.

"Where is my rival this morning?" Lee looks around as he does his one fingered push ups. Tenten sits on a rock polishing her kunai when she notices Hinata walking down the road. She hurries to her feet and runs over to Hinata almost startling the girl before her.

"Hi Hinata." Tenten smiles Hinata looks to the ground and slowly looks up at Tenten not knowing what to say to her.

"Good afternoon Tenten-san..." Hinata whispers to the kuniochi before her.

"So Hinata, where's Neji? He was supposed to be here 2 hours ago for training." Tenten says.

"W-well... Neji-nii-san is... Ummm... At a meeting with the elders..." Hinata whispers as she thinks about the promise she just broke.

"The elders? Wait why is he with them I mean when you go see them it's usually bad right?" Tenten says and looks at Hinata confusingly.

"Y-yes but not this time, Neji-nii-san is getting something approved by the council..." Hinata whispers and pokes her two index fingers together like normal but she stops when Tenten takes Hinata's hands in hers.

"Hinata, is Neji in trouble?" Tenten whispers.

"No I'm not." A voice says from behind Hinata. Both the girls quickly turn to the voice to find Neji standing there with his headband around his neck like Hinata and his forehead bandaged from the night before.

"Neji-kun!" Tenten cheers and hugs his neck; she feels the brush of the bandages and looks up at him to see the bandages. "What happened?" Tenten whispered.

"Nothing to be concerned with, just an accident with a rule or two." Neji said and smiled slightly as he looked to Hinata who frowned at his lie. "Hinata-san you should get to your training." Neji says, when Hinata realizes he wants to be alone with Tenten she shakes her head yes.

"H-hai." Hinata says as she hurries off leaving Tenten and Neji alone on training ground 11.

"How'd the meeting with the elders go?" Tenten asked as they moved to a bench to sit down.

"I see Hinata told you of the meeting." He sighs.

"You better not get mad at her; I kind of pried it out so I knew why you were missing out on the training." Tenten said and looked at him to find him frowning slightly. "What happened at the meeting?"

"I was confronted by Hiashi-sama last night about you and me... He brought it before the council since even though I am a cadet branch member my marriage is to be arranged with someone with the same bloodline." He whispers as he notices he has Tenten's full attention. "The elders came to a decision this morning... They said in order for me to be able to stay with you... You would have to prove yourself strong enough to be a Hyuuga but... I don't know if you would gain the curse mark or not in the process or what you would say to this so I gave them no answer..."

"Neji-kun I-" She starts but he stops her.

"It's alright... If you don't want to risk your life for the curse mark's sake I understand..." He whispers.

"No Neji, I would risk my life even if I were to be cursed, I love you and I always will." She whispers and pulls him close and he smiles slightly thinking of how he's no longer alone.

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They gave her a week to prepare for the battle that was to be held in the arena. Naruto came and helped out as well when he found out Tenten was to fight the Hyuuga. Neji had taught her all the weak spots of the Jyuuken style and Naruto taught her how to analyze the situation, Hinata has helped also but only on the days Naruto wasn't there for Neji knew what would happen if they were there on the same days. Finally they thought she was ready as they came to the arena early Saturday morning. Neji looked around to see all the Hyuuga family in the stands along with Tenten's parents and their friends, Gai and Lee sat near Naruto and Hinata sat next to Hiashi with Hanabi where they were up in the box where the Kages sit.

"Now relax and remember everything we taught you." Neji whispers to Tenten who only smiles and kisses his cheek.

"Don't be worried Neji, I can handle this." She whispers.

"I know you can handle it it's just…"

"Don't finish that sentence, now sit back and relax. Before you know it I'll be with you." She whispers as she heads for the door to the field but he stops her by gently taking her arm in his. She turns to face him and he kisses her deeply.

"Be careful." He whispers.

"I will…" She whispers and disappears out into the arena where a young woman stands with Byakkugan activated.

"You will lose and you know it." The Hyuuga says but Tenten ignores her.

"You wish." Tenten whispers. The Hyuuga shifts into her Jyuuken position as Tenten watches closely going over all the things she was told about the Taijutsu and how it was used, She watched Neji all the time and knew when he would strike and this woman just happened to be the same. Tenten slowly began to approach the woman who only shifted slightly unable to see the reason why her opponent was acting the way she was.

"Are you going to make this easy for me?" The woman asks as Tenten quickly disappears and the crowd watches closely. The Hyuuga quickly look around for Tenten who seems to be no where. Before the crowd could say anything or do anything Tenten quickly punctured the woman's shoulder from her blind spot which caused her left arm to go limp. The woman quickly jumped back and prepared her strike again as she was now aware of what the weapon specialist had planned.

"You should watch your back more often." Tenten whispers as she charges in knowing that the woman was now unable to use her left arm the rest of the match. The elders watched closely as Tenten dodged all the shots made at her and went in for the final hit when the woman dropped to her hands and knees and tripped Tenten who quickly regained her balance but was kicked in the side. Tenten rose to her feet ignoring the pain in her side as she charged in again.

"You think that'll work? It didn't work last time." The woman states but Tenten didn't answer to this, she charged in faster using the jutsu Lee taught her for emergencies as she disappeared again but she was still charging right at the woman, her speed untouchable. Out of nowhere Tenten tackles the woman and pins her to the ground with 8 kunai and has a long Katana pointed at the woman's neck.

"I win." Tenten whispers and the elders watch closely as the woman on the ground stays still. Hiashi gets to his feet as does Hanabi and Hinata but Hiashi tells his daughters to sit back down.

"It seems her strength has been proven…" Hiashi says to everyone in the arena. "The test is now over and the elders will come to a decision."

"Wait, what?" Neji runs out next to Tenten and looks up at Hiashi wondering why they still had to make a decision, she should've passed automatically since she did render her opponent useless and she proved her strength. He looked at Tenten who looked as about confused as he did.

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The arena box where the elders and Hiashi had stayed was cleared quickly leaving Hinata and Hanabi in the box as some medics hired from the hospital hauled the woman away to repair her injuries as Tenten and Neji stood in the center of the arena looking at everyone seeing Naruto and Hinata looking around quickly unsure of what was going on. Neji had a bad feeling about this but as he and Tenten were about to go back in the elders spoke and they quickly looked up at them.

"We have analyzed the one wishing to be with Cadet Branch member Neji Hyuuga and we have come to a decision." One of the elders says as he looks around the arena at all the people.

"And we have found this test very… Interesting in a Hyuuga's eyes." The second elder says as he looks down at Tenten and Neji then he looks at the people in the crowd.

"And we have decided that the woman seeking admittance to our clan…" The third elder says as Hiashi steps forward. The third elder looks at Hinata and Hanabi then at Neji then at all the Hyuuga in the stands ignoring the other non Hyuuga's.

"May enter as she is strong enough as a Hyuuga." The fourth elder says as Hiashi clears his throat. And gets ready to present the reply and decision of the elders as Neji grips Tenten's hand tight as the nervousness slowly begins to get to him.

"The curse seal will not be placed on her for she is not judged by the outside…." Hiashi says and Hinata quickly looks at Hiashi and then Hanabi smiling brightly at who their new cousin was to be. Tenten hugged Neji tight as Neji held her close smiling as their friends cheered in the stands leading the Hyuuga's in the stands to start cheering also.

Little did the council know but Tenten was one of weapons with a gentle heart just like the shy Hyuuga sitting in the box.

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Like it? Then please review and tell me about whether you liked it or not.

I plan on doing another one shot in my spare time if the block doesn't disappear soon so who should I do next?

1. Sakura & Sasuke

2. Short Hinata & Naruto

3. Rock Lee & OC

4. Ino & OC


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